Moorea Coral Reef LTER

The Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER is comprised of the coastal fringe of coral reefs and lagoons that surround the volcanic island of Moorea in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. The MCR LTER primary research interests include studies of population dynamics of local corals, nutrient dynamics and diversity studies. For the MCR portion of the MIRADA project we have incorporated investigators from the Marine Biological Laboratory, UCSB faculty, faculty at Moorea's Gump research station, the Sea Education Association's semester at sea cruise, and NSF REU undergraduates. The fringing reefs off the MCR LTER lie at the interface between populated terrestrial coastlines and unproductive, oligotrophic oceanic waters. Our goal within the MIRADA project is to study the changes in microbial population patters along a transect from the island, through Cooks Bay, into the lagoon and across the fringing reef into the open ocean. We are primarily interested in the effects of the island and the fringing reef on the microbial population in terms of diversity, species richness, and correlations of specific microbial groups with local geochemical conditions. We are also interested in seasonal comparisons from samples taken in January, 2008 (summer, rainy season) and samples from the same stations collected in June, 2009 (winter, dry season) to assess the impacts of anthropogenic inputs on near- and off-shore communities. These data can then be compared to other coastal ocean MIRADA LTER sites (e.g. Palmer Station, Santa Barbara Coastal and Virginia Coast Reserve) to identify patterns in nearshore and coastal ocean microbial populations.